Damper for upright-piano actions



F. L. GEORGE. v DAMPER FOR UPRiGHT PIANO AGTIONS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9,1919.

Hill

INVENTOR. FWA MK Lu 60fi6 BY jaw 21% A TTORNEYS.

F. L. GEORGE.

DAMPER FOR UPRIGHT PIANO ACTIONS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9. 1919- 1,353,644, Patentedsepf. 21,1920.

(7 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. F/6.2.

/ INVENTOR.

FHA Nlf L. 'zomsz TORNEYS.

* UNITE-D STATES FRANK L. GEORGE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

DAMPER FOR UPRIGHT-PIANO ACTIONS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1920.

Application filed September 9, 1919. Serial No. 322,728.

To all whom it may concern 1n ify invention relates to dampers for actions for upright pianos and consists of the novel features herein shown, described and claimed.

A very bad defect in the upright action of to-day, and one causing much annoyance to the pianist, is the impossibility, under the present form of construction, to keep the weight of the touch on the key equalized owing to the constant movement on and off of the loud pedal. The act of putting on the loud pedal moves the damper lever forwardly sufliciently to remove its lower end off the damper spoon, thereby removing the pressure of the damper spring entirely from the spoon, and as this spring pressure constitutes practically one-third of the weight on the key it results in a rapidly alternating light and heavy touch to the performer which is most annoying.

Then too the action regulator has his troubles with adjusting or seating the damper felt on the wire, as the only known method'of doing this is to bend the damper wire in the required direction, which is nothing more nor less than a series of experiments,-until an approximate seating is attained; this often results in wrenching the impingement of the damper lever and quite frequently causes cracking of the damper flange.

Still another serious fault with this form of action is the method of applying a damper spring and hammer spring. T0 attach the damper spring is a delicate operation and requires considerable and careful labor. Furthermore, the damper .is in the way of the screw driver in attaching and removing the spring and consequently, the latter is often broken off entirely. The hammer spring is less defective, its chief fault being in the method of attaching to the spring rail, as the entire strain comes on the wire proper where it is inserted in the spring rail'instead of on the coil which hangs just below the rail, this results in the springs being easily and frequently broken.

My object to overcome the above ob- Jections.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of an action for upright pianos having an equalizing damper in accordance with the principles of my invention and showing the damper'mechanism in its normal position in full lines and showin its operation in dogteld lines, upon application of the loud pc :1

' Fig. 2 is a view analogous to Fi l showing the parts in position after the key is struck and before it is released in full lines and in normal position after the key is re leased in dotted lines.

The intermediate action rail 1 has a flange 2 secured against the front side by a screw 3, and the flange 2 extends upwardly above the rail. The upper swing lis pivotally connected to the upper end of the flange 2 by a pin 3. The upper end of the sticker 5 is pivotally of the swing 4 by a pin 6. The sticker 5 has an offset portion 7 above the pin 6. The equalizer spoon 8 extends upwardly from the rear end of the swing 4.

The main or large action rail 9 is rigidly mounted above the intermediate action rail 1. A flange 10 is secured to the front side of the action rail 9 by a screw 11 and extends upwardly above the rail. The hammer shank 12 is connect-ed to the flange 10 by a pin 13 and a jack 14 connects with the upper end 7 of the sticker 5 and is positioned to operate upon the hammer shank 12.

The damper lever flange 15 is connected to connected to the forward end the upper side of the rail 9 by a screw 16 and 5 extends backwardly. Thedamper lever 17 is connected to the rear end of the flange 15 by a pin 18. The lower end 19 of the damper lever is slightly curved or offset backwardly and a half round extension 20 is formed at the extreme lower end of the portion 19. The equalizer 21 has an ear 22 extending backwardly from its center and the extension 20 is bifurcated to receive the ear 22 and is pivotally connected by a pin The damper lever rod 24 normally bears against the felt 25 secured to the lower rear face of the main action rail 9, and a felt 26 is secured to the upper end of the equalizing V the rod, and a crank 32 extends rigidly from the damper lever rod 24 and has an arm lever equalizer 21 and bears against the rod '24. A felt 27 is secured to the lower end of the equalizing lever equalizer '21 and bears against the spoon S. The loud pedal rod 28 has a'fiat fitted "upper end-29.

The damper lever rod 24 has crank arms 30 mounted in bearings-31 for supporting 33 at its upper rear endv resting upon the end 29 of the loud pedal rod 28; so that The compound compensatlng spring 34 is formed. of hard wire and has an end 35 hearing against the hammer shank 12 above the pin. 13, a central coil 36 fitting-in a bifurcatedbearing 37 at the upperend of the damper lever 17, and an end 38 bearing against the spring rail 39. A pinr40 is inserted through the bearing 37 and through the coil 36. I V V The damper wire 41 is sliding'ly mounted. in the damper lever 17 and held adjustably in place by a set screw &2. The-damper a3 has a socket a4 fitting upon the end 45 of the wire 41 and held adjustably in place by a set screw 46. The end 45 of the wiree l is bent at right angles to the body of the wire.

The lower end of the hammer shank 12 is mounted in a hammer butt L7 and the lower end, 35 of the spring fits in va slot: formed in the hammer butt 47. The upper end 38 of the spring 34 fits in a slot in the spring rail 39. The spring 3418' placed in position under tension and the lower end 35 is longer from the pin 40 than the upper end 38.

The lower end of the sticker 5 is connected T 3 to thelower sw'ing'48 bya pin 49,- and the adjusting screw 50 is tapped through the forward end of the swing 48 and rests upon the rear end of the key 51.

The hammer rest 52 is in condition to be 7 engaged by the hammer shank 12 when the key 51 is at rest.

Especial attention is called to set screws 12 and 46 and to the fact that by manipulating these setscrews the damper wire 11 and the damper 43 may be adjusted into any desired positionforproperly seatng the damper relative to the piano wire .53 without bending or twisting the damper wire 4:1. I

Thus I have produced an equalizing damper for actions for upright pianos in which the damper exerts constant and unvarying weight upon the key, sothat the operation of the loud pedal does not change the touch, and the leading feature or the construction is the equalizing lever 21 pivotally connected at its center to the damper lever 17, one end or" the equalizing lever bearing upon the damper rod 24% and the other end of the equalizing lever 21 bearing upon the upper swing 4 and through the upper swing upon the key 51.

Broadly the equalizingdamper consists of an equalizer pivotally connected intermediate of its ends "to the damper lever with one end of the equalizer bearing upon the damper rod and the other end oftheequalizing lever connected to exert itspress'ure upon the key continuouslyso that the oper tion of the loud pedal doesnot change the touch of the key. I v 7 Various changes may be made without departing from, the spirit of my invention. as claimed.

I claim: V e I 1. A damper for upright pianoi actions comprising a damper lever, an equalizer pivotally connected intermediate or its ends to the damper lever,,a damper rod positioned 'to carry ioneend of the equalizer and a. key

having means connecting it oper'atively with the other end of the equalizer.

A. damper comprising thecombination with a collection 'or upright piano actions,

' a mper lever rod mounted to tion o the loud pedal does Inotchange the I pressure of the damper upon the key. 7

3. damper for uprightpiano aetions, 7 1n comblnation with a damper. levefr a damper lever rod and a key; anequalizer rockingly connected with the damperlever and bearing directly upon the damper. lever rod and operatively connectedat the other end to bear upon the key during the operation of the rod. r

a. In co bination in a damper for upright piano actions, adamper lever. pivotally mounted intermediate or its ends having a damper fixed to its upper end, a rocking lever fixed to its lower end engaginga damper releasing mechanism at one end thereof, a loud pedal mechanism foperatively connected to said damper releasing mechan sm, and means connecting the {other end of said rocking lever with a key whereby the operation of the loud pedal mechanism operating to release the dampers will exert an unvarying resistance to the movement of the key.

5. A damper for piano actions, compris ing a main action rail, a loud pedal mechanism, a damper lever swinging in a vertical plane and pivoted intermediate its ends to said rail, an equalizing lever pivoted intermediate its ends to the damper lever, one end of the equalizing lever being operatively connected to the key and the other end being operatively connected to said loud pedal mechanism whereby substantially constant pressure is exerted on said key, irrespective of the movement of the damper lever.

6, In an upright piano, the combination of a key, a loud pedal mechanism, a damper rod, a damper lever pivoted intermediate its ends to swing in a vertical plane, an equalizing lever pivoted to the damper lever and having one end operatively connected to said key and the other end being operatively connected to said loud pedal mechanism whereby a substantially constant pressure is exerted irrespective of the movement of the damper rod.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANK L. GEORGE. 

